If you have a spinal cord injury, chances are you have a neurogenic bowel. Because of this, we don’t go like everyone else (duh). But, what really does that mean? I’ve had my SCI for a little over 10 years now, and I don’t really know what that means. Today, I’m going to START exploring and researching.
I’m going to warn you right now, neurogenic bowel means I will be talking about the gut, and yes, that does mean talking about poop. Poop. Stool. Feces. Whatever you want to call it. It is natural and, hate to break it to you, but EVERYBODY poops. Or, at least everyone SHOULD be pooping.
Over the past year (almost a year) I have been doing some research and nutritional testing with gut health. Your gut is sometimes said to be your second brain. It is estimated that 80% of ALL Americans (not just the SCI population) suffer from something called leaky gut. When I first heard of the term, I thought about those with diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Turns out, there are SO many more conditions and side effects that leaky gut is associated with. If you have chronic headaches, brain fog, memory loss, fatigue (or excess fatigue), or chronic constipation/ diarrhea/ gas/ bloating, it’s likely that you suffer from leaky gut as well.
Does that sound familiar? I bet it does!
But, what does this all mean for a neurogenic bowel? That’s what I’m about to investigate. This blog post is going to serve as a foundation for how I (we) can heal our leaky gut with a neurogenic bowel. I will begin to test some things, and I will keep you updated on what works (and doesn’t work for me).
First, let’s get some background laid out. My background.
I have STRUGGLED with a big-old capital S with regularity since my SCI. Just when I thought I might actually be getting regular, I wouldn’t go for a few days, and then BAM, an upset stomach with diarrhea. (Sorry, we are getting into TMI with this post! – No Shame in my game!) This cycle has been revisited over, and over, and over again. I’ve just had so much on my plate since day one that I haven’t taken the time to research it and fix it. Naturally.
Also part of my background – I like things natural. I am not one to pop a pill at the slightest ailment. If I have a headache, I figure out WHY I have a headache and fix it. In this example, I look at my water intake first, and then go from there. Food is medicine. Plain and simple. It can be the best medicine for us, or it can be our poison. Over this past year, it has slowly shifted to my medicine. Am I perfect. Absolutely Not! Am I better than I was last year, definitely!
So, that brings us to today. I have heard the research about leaky gut and why it’s so important to fix. It’s linked to your metabolic flexibility – and this is what makes you lose weight (if you are looking to do so). Over the past 3 years, I have lost about 30 pounds. This is true. However, for the past 2 years, I have been gaining and losing the same 5-10 pounds, no matter what I tried. So, I have concluded that it’s because of my gut. I want to be able to “fix” my gut, to the best of my ability, and FINALLY reach my goal. But, I don’t think I can do that without fully understanding what a neurogenic bowel is.
Neurogenic Bowel
By definition, from the Mayo Clinic, a neurogenic bowel is the interruption of the nerves in the spinal cord to the bowel, causing a dysfunction to occur. Signs of neurogenic bowel include loss of bowel control (bowel incontinence), constipation, bowel frequency and lack of bowel movements. Usually, some type of stimulation needs to occur in the bowel to produce the movement. This can be digital anal stimulation with a finger, a suppository, mini enema, or a regular enema.
There are two types of neurogenic bowels – upper motor neuron and lower motor neuron. Upper motor neuron or “reflexive bowel” occurs reflexively when the rectum is full and can be managed by causing the defecation reflex to go at a scheduled time. Lower motor neuron or “flaccid bowel” occurs when there is damage to the reflex and the anal sphincter muscle is relaxed. Management of this type of bowel problem may require more frequent attempts to empty the bowel and bearing down or manual removal of stool.
There is not much research out there, that I could find anyway, about neurogenic bowel AND leaky gut. Research on separate issues, absolutely. Put them together, not a lot. And, because I am not a doctor or a medical professional, I need something that I can understand.
Here’s what I know:
“Normal” people can manage their gut and gut health by food. This makes me want to believe that we can also manage our neurogenic bowel with food, and resources such as suppositories or mini enemas. I have no idea if this is true, or not. But, I’m on a mission to find out. Like I said above, I am one that does not want to take pills if I don’t have to.
I am going to put this to the test. For the next couple of months, I am going to test out a mostly plant-based diet, focusing on foods to heal my gut and help me “go.” I will revisit this topic again after I am done testing, and report on what I have found out and how I am feeling. Keep in mind, though, that if something does work for me, it may not necessarily work for you. We are all separate, unique human beings with different DNA, genders, ages, and histories. My goal in reporting my findings is to spark some interest for you to do your own research and your own testing.
As always, leave me some feedback either here – below this post, e-mail me (megs@thewheellifeblog.com), or on any of my social media platforms! (FB/IG/TW @wheellifeblog and Snapchat @megsh8). I would love to hear from you and what I can do to help.
Megs